Nice result of a maintenance problem on a UA A-320...

Ghery

Ghery

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Ghery Pettit
We were boarding a fight from SFO to SAN this morning when we were asked to come back up to the galley while a mechanic came on board to work on my wife's seat. Seems it wouldn't move from the partially reclined position it was in. Last row in 1st, window seat. For some reason my wife commented to one of the FAs that I was a pilot, and I was invited to go up to the cockpit while they worked on her seat. Sat in the left seat and shot the bull with the pilot and FO. The pilot's daughter is working on her private certificate in the Denver area and then going to ATP. I hope she does well. Much more comfortable than standing in the galley. The captain joked that with a short training session he could take my seat in 1st and I could join the FO making the flight. I said that I doubted the FAA and UA would see the humor in that idea. :p The mechanic came up and wanted the captain's opinion as the seat couldn't be fixed. As it was in the back row of 1st and a window seat, it wasn't a safety concern for an emergency evacuation, so we were still able to use it. Not sure what we would have done if it wasn't useable, that flight was full. Ride in the jump seat? :p:p

Oh, and UA gave me 5,000 miles for the inconvenience. Double good outcome. :D
 
Ghery said:
Not sure what we would have done if it wasn't useable, that flight was full.
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I was jump seating when I noticed the seat I was in (last class) would not stay in the upright position. I did not mention it until after take off because then the seat would be noted as INOP and I would be looking for another ride.

I did tell the lead FA and she got in touch with operations and they had a replacement seat waiting as we deplaned. She did thank me for letting them know so there would not be any delays, and gave me a miniature whiskey.
 
When you state that the seat couldn't be fixed, what do you mean? Do you mean they couldn't do anything with it at all including securing it in the full upright position or that they just couldn't make it function correctly but they could and did secure it in the full upright position? To your knowledge was it placed on MEL?
 
My wife and I got free alcohol on the flight back from my parent's place because the outlets under the seats (American 737-800) didn't work.

I wasn't terribly bothered but I didn't turn it down! It was a different experience... I could not imagine EVER trying to fly in that condition though. First time being inebriated in a vehicle even as a passenger.
 
Ghery said:
Not sure what we would have done if it wasn't useable, that flight was full. Ride in the jump seat? :p:p
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Looks like it was seat 3A.

There were 7 open seats in economy plus two non-revs. If the flight had been full, one of the non-revs would have been bumped. If a non-rev was a pilot or F/A they could have taken the applicable jumpseat instead of having to bump a non-rev. If there had been no non-revs then the oversale procedure would be followed for asking for a volunteer then, if none are found, the involuntary denied boarding procedure would be followed. It's unlikely that the passenger with the broken seat would be at the top of the list to be involuntarily bumped but it is possible.

Glad to see that you arrived ten minutes early even with the maintenance issue during boarding.
 
overdrive148 said:
My wife and I got free alcohol on the flight back from my parent's place because the outlets under the seats (American 737-800) didn't work.
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This is part of the reason we're tending to move away from entertainment in the seat backs of our narrowbodies. Just about everyone these days has a phone or tablet capable of playing content, so it's a lot easier to offer everything via the wireless network. Not sure how the reliability is on other carriers, but on our 737s with 160 of those things, it's not uncommon to have one fail from time to time, and I think the airline is getting tired of giving out free booze!

The outlets will still be there, though. Hopefully working for you next time. ;)
 
kayoh190 said:
This is part of the reason we're tending to move away from entertainment in the seat backs of our narrowbodies. Just about everyone these days has a phone or tablet capable of playing content, so it's a lot easier to offer everything via the wireless network. Not sure how the reliability is on other carriers, but on our 737s with 160 of those things, it's not uncommon to have one fail from time to time, and I think the airline is getting tired of giving out free booze!

The outlets will still be there, though. Hopefully working for you next time. ;)
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I believe it! We weren't especially bothered, heck we didn't even know about them until they said they were on the flight. The flight attendant offered the free drinks when we just brought it up to her which was nice. She even tried it on the right half of the aisle with our charger and nothing.

9XKAsFQ.png
Side note: What is this notch missing out of the trailing edge flap? It was on both wings and I am 90% sure I can see the honeycomb structure inside it.
 
For clearance when deployed/retracted my guess.
 
mscard88 said:
For clearance when deployed/retracted my guess.
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No. It is some sort of maintenance deal and if I recall, it is a temporary fix for some sort of issue with the flaps. Again, if I recall, it is a de-lamination issue.
 
Greg Bockelman said:
No. It is some sort of maintenance deal and if I recall, it is a temporary fix for some sort of issue with the flaps. Again, if I recall, it is a de-lamination issue.
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Well @SkyDog58 apparently knows but he's not sharing. Hope he's making his New Year resolutions and stops that! :popcorn:
 
Greg Bockelman said:
No. It is some sort of maintenance deal and if I recall, it is a temporary fix for some sort of issue with the flaps. Again, if I recall, it is a de-lamination issue.
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This is what I've been told. Our older -800s tend to have the cutouts. It's not discussed in any of our manuals as far as I know. Next time I see a mechanic I'll see if I can get a more complete answer.
 
If that seat was placarded "must be in full upright and locked position for take-offs and landings" or similar, that seat was unairworthy and should have been MEL.
 
bnt83 said:
If that seat was placarded "must be in full upright and locked position for take-offs and landings" or similar, that seat was unairworthy and should have been MEL.
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Nope. The MEL will instruct how the seat can or cannot be utilized. In this case, it would be deferred (MEL says how long until maintenance must repair it) and fixed in the upright position.
 
bnt83 said:
The OP post says "would not move from the partially reclinced position" and "could not be fixed"...
http://fsims.faa.gov/wdocs/mmel/a-320 r21.pdf
View attachment 58796
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Ha. Beat me to posting the excerpt by a minute or less.

But this is why I asked the questions that I did in Post #3. The OP made it sound like it was the captain's decision which it wasn't. The mechanic was either able to secure it in the upright position and apply the MEL allowing the seat to be occupied or he wasn't able to secure it and the seat would have been blocked out and deferred as such.

The captain would have been wrong to deny the seat to a pax if the seat was secured and properly deferred. This would have been wrong in the eyes of management though not a regulatory issue per se.

The captain would have been more wrong to allow it to be occupied if it couldn't be secured. This would have been a regulatory non compliance issue and he would be in trouble.
 
SkyDog58 said:
When you state that the seat couldn't be fixed, what do you mean? Do you mean they couldn't do anything with it at all including securing it in the full upright position or that they just couldn't make it function correctly but they could and did secure it in the full upright position? To your knowledge was it placed on MEL?
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Larry in TN said:
Looks like it was seat 3A.

There were 7 open seats in economy plus two non-revs. If the flight had been full, one of the non-revs would have been bumped. If a non-rev was a pilot or F/A they could have taken the applicable jumpseat instead of having to bump a non-rev. If there had been no non-revs then the oversale procedure would be followed for asking for a volunteer then, if none are found, the involuntary denied boarding procedure would be followed. It's unlikely that the passenger with the broken seat would be at the top of the list to be involuntarily bumped but it is possible.

Glad to see that you arrived ten minutes early even with the maintenance issue during boarding.
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Along with other posts - thanks. No, the seat back could not be moved to the full upright position. It was reclined a bit. As Larry noted, it was 3A. The CA wasn't all that concerned about it. I'm sure it has been fixed by now. Interesting set of posts, however.
 
Ghery said:
Along with other posts - thanks. No, the seat back could not be moved to the full upright position. It was reclined a bit. As Larry noted, it was 3A. The CA wasn't all that concerned about it. I'm sure it has been fixed by now. Interesting set of posts, however.
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In that case, it appears that the MEL was improperly applied or that it was not applied at all. If the seat could not be secured in the full upright position it should have been unoccupied. It would be interesting to see the log entry and sign off.
 
Good story, thanks for sharing. Glad the pilots turned out to be really cool from the sound of it.
 
I used to get loaded on flights all the time. What else was there to do? I'd always bring a bottle in my carry on and mix it with whatever the stews were handing out. TSA put a stop to that. Darn. Had some really good times, too.
 
steingar said:
I used to get loaded on flights all the time. What else was there to do? I'd always bring a bottle in my carry on and mix it with whatever the stews were handing out. TSA put a stop to that. Darn. Had some really good times, too.
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You can still bring mini bottles in your carry on, or even get a whole bottle if you like in the duty free store post security. Don't give up. Where there's a will, there's a way....
 
121.575 -- Alcoholic beverages.
(a) No person may drink any alcoholic beverage aboard an aircraft unless the certificate holder operating the aircraft has served that beverage to him.​

While the regulation allows a passenger to bring their own alcohol, as long as it is given to a crewmember who then serves the drinks, few, if any, airlines allow it. The point of the regulation is so that the crewmembers have the ability to cut off a passenger who is becoming intoxicated.
 
I did this before I ever knew about any regulations. Then again, I never got so toasted that I (or any of my drinking buddies) became a danger to the flight or its crew. Just too expensive to buy it from the airline.
 
Back in the day, TWA had a piano bar in some long haul domestic birds. If the piano was out of tune, would it be placarded as INOP?

Cheers
 
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